


Until Eternity

by MyOTP_WhispersOfSweetNothings



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Based on a song, M/M, Multi-Era, Slow Build, Tags updated with each chapter added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 17:42:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17513033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOTP_WhispersOfSweetNothings/pseuds/MyOTP_WhispersOfSweetNothings
Summary: Have you ever loved someone so much that one lifetime isn't enough of their time? What if you were given multiple lifetimes? What if there was a cost?Eren and Levi are soulmates. Not in the sense that they found each other, fell in love and decided to never choose someone else. Not the cheesy notion of their souls being two halves of a whole. No, their story starts when the titans still existed. Back when when their lives were nothing but tragedy. Tragedy so horrific that they had imprinted memories. Memories that lasted ages.What if those memories lasted Until Eternity? Then what would happen?





	Until Eternity

**Author's Note:**

> If you read that terrible summary and still decided to read this fic, I thank you from the deepest darkest depths of my heart. Because, honestly, this is my first fic and I'm terrified of having others read it. I know a lot of people say that, but it's a truly daunting thought of having complete strangers read and rate your work that you've already bludgeoned yourself over trying to perfect.  
> Though that paints a grim image, I really am proud of myself for publishing this. I've held onto this idea for almost two years now and have made copies upon copies of it in different versions, this one being the one I settled on.  
> I hope you all enjoy it!  
> One last thing before we get started! I am a Uni student who works two jobs and is also an officer for a Greek Life organization, so I am really really busy. I have plans to have this fic in the 100,000+ word count, but it's going to take me some time to get there. I hope to update often, even if the chapters are really small. I hope you all stick with me through this and that you're understanding of how busy we all are on the daily.  
> Anyway, enough of the ongoing author's note! Please enjoy!

They stood, shoulders touching, atop the crumbling wall watching the carnage that ensued down on the ground below. Screams echoed, the sound bouncing off the brick of the abandoned houses and shops as unfortunate souls were caught by massive hands. Hands that tore arms and legs from torsos, swallowing them down throats large enough to emit thunderous bellows so deep they vibrated walls and loosened debris.

Eren looked over at Levi from the corner of his eye. The raven stood staring out at the carnage. He watched Levi’s steel grey eyes as they swept from left to right, narrowing at sights that made weaker men shiver in fear, but not the Captain.

The stony mask the shorter of the two wore was only a façade. One that Eren knew well enough to read the troubles it covered. He knew Levi’s blank look hid the inner turmoil and regret he felt for every bone that creaked in between monstrous fingers before giving way to a crunch which ended in tortured screams. Screams that dragged unease down both of their spines in waves of chills that clawed into their cores to settle in their stomachs. Eren felt nauseous, the scent of cannon powder warring against the smell of decomposing titan corpses.

“I’m sorry.” Eren said, his body tense with second-hand emotions that rolled off Levi.

He was sorry. Sorry he couldn’t bring any comfort to the older man. To hold the clenched hand at his side. To kiss away the frustrated dip in his brow. Eren was sorry he couldn’t fix any of the past few days chaos that had inevitably gone to shit around them. He knew that there wasn’t much he could have done, knew that every soul they lost to the mindless beings was just another pebble added to the mountain the Captain felt on his shoulders. But there wasn’t anything he could do other than stand by and wait for Commander Erwin’s orders. It made the nausea worse, the sickness in his stomach emphasized by another far off scream cut short by cannon fire.

“I know.” Levi responded, turning away from the battle before them and looking up at the young brunet.

The words were soft against the onslaught around them. Eren only heard them because he was listening for them. Listening for anything Levi might say. Any word said was one he wanted to cling to because it might be the last thing he could hear from the man beside him. Any words they shared, Eren remembered. The soft sighs and harsh clicks of the tongue accompanied those words. They were the small things that were comforts even in the heat of battle. Signs that allowed Eren to know what the Captain was thinking or wanting to do. Plans and strategies that were spoken in the smallest of gestures. Plans that Eren hated.

The plan to send Eren out into the field played through the brunet’s mind once more, running though the contingency. He was supposed to stall Zeke long enough to allow Levi and his fellow 104th comrades to show up and apprehend the man behind the orchestrated titan attacks. He would be going against the strongest titan he had faced since Annie. Doubts flooded his mind at the thought of so many people relying on him. How was he supposed to stop Zeke singlehandedly when the man had taken down Bert and Reiner without lifting a finger? Eren looked out over the destroyed city of Singanshina, past all of the smoke and ash to the bursting orange flare of the setting sun. It was getting late and the time for him to move in was rapidly approaching. His hands began to sweat and the tension in his shoulders started to mount.

This was once his home, but he hadn’t considered it that for many years. Not when all he could remember was the deafening screams of nhis cities people or the sound of the first thunderous boom of the wall being breached by Reiner’s titan.

It wouldn’t be long before he stood facing the man that took everything away from him. The man who he’s hated since the day his home was buried, his mom bit in half, his family broken and homeless, and the day he found his vengeance. He hated Zeke and this was going to be his fight to bring the endless attacks to an end. He would be the savior he promised he would become. He was going to end them all. All of the titans. Humans wouldn’t be cattle. Not any longer.

“Don’t worry, Eren.” Levi’s voice startled him out of his dark thoughts. He had been so caught up in his head that he didn’t notice when the raven moved in close. Instead of standing next to him witnessing the endless and chaotic battle down below like he had been, Levi stood looking up at him. His eyes glimmered with the little amount of emotion he could afford to show in such a pressured time.

“You aren’t alone. So, stop frowning.”

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Know what I’m thinking without me having to say anything?”

Levi didn’t answer, just lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug while looking away, his body still angled toward Eren. The answer eluded Eren most of the time when he was with the Captain. Even though he thought he knew the Captain, he never knew everything. It bothered him because it made him feel like he wasn’t the right person for Levi, but then, when those serious moments came, when Levi needed him to be strong, he was there. And it was almost enough to make up for the moments like these where he felt lost. He never had to say anything to be understood by the older man. He never had to say what he felt, the Captain just knew. Levi knew. Even when Eren didn’t.

“Just… Don’t think about it too much.” The hesitation was slight, but Eren heard it.

He heard the pause and knew the other was worried about the mission as well. It was a big task that was assigned to all of them. They had to succeed, and to be successful, he and his friends all had to work together. They could do it. He knew they could. But they only had one shot. He only had one shot.

“Captain.” Eren stepped closer to the shorter man, slightly towering over him. He left no room between them making their chest straps catch on one another on each of their breaths. The brunet lowered his head so it was nearly touching his commanding officers shoulder. His breath brushed against the skin of his Captains neck. The space minimal and intimate.

“Levi.” He whispered. The name slipped between his lips that grimaced as the sound of cannons firing erupted around them again. “Don’t leave me out there. I trust Mikasa and Armin. I trust my other friends as well. But, I need to know that you’ll be there when I lose myself.” He paused, inhaling a shaky breath. The next words were quieter than the ones said previous. “I need to know that you’ll stop me from being the one who destroys everything we’ve worked so hard to accomplish.”

Levi’s head snapped up to Eren’s, eyes pure steel as he took a look at the brunet. Eren thought Levi was confident in everything they had planned, but looking now, he knew he had just voiced the one thing both of them were worried about. They could run continegcies all day, but both of them knew that Eren’s state of mind might not make it out of another shift into his titan form. He wanted Levi to be the one to stop him if necessary. It wouldn’t be fair to ask Mikasa or Armin. They would do it, but the burden would be too much for them to handle. They might try to save him again like they had in the past. But Eren knew that this time, this time wouldn’t be a rescue mission for him, it would be a death sentence. He knew that, and had come to terms with it. If it meant saving humanity, he was willing to lay down his life and let others live beyond the wall they had caged themselves in.

 “Tch. You were always one for theatrics. Nothing is going to happen. Just follow the Erwin’s plan and everything will be fine.”

Eren looked away from Levi’s serious eyes and down to both of their hands at their sides. The closeness of their bodies was evident to strangers. Practically touching, but all they could allow between them in the public eye. Eren wanted to hold Levi’s hand or to bush his lips against the pale skin of his neck as he had done so many times before. He wanted to be reaffirmed that he wouldn’t turn into the monster that Hanji and Moblit and everyone else had concluded he inevitably would. But, mostly, he wanted one last moment with the man that he loved before the possibility of never seeing him again.

“But what if—“

 “The man lost his arm, not his head. He knows what he’s doing. Trust him, Eren.”

Eren nodded his head before gently placing it on Levi’s shoulder. Screw what people saw. He needed to be close to someone. Levi being that someone.

“Eren. We can’t-“

“I don’t care. This might be the last thing we… I get.”

“And what about after, hmm?” Levi pressed, ignoring what Eren said about not living past this mission. “What about after everything is over and we both make it back to headquarters? How are we going to fight the forces then?”

“And if we don’t make it?”

A smack echoed in the small space around them as Eren raised his hand to rub at his aching head looking down at Levi, his eyes wide with disbelief. The shorter man casting his gaze away at the sunset, his eyes narrowed and a twitch in his left brow.

“What was that for?”

“You being stupid.”

“How was that being stu-“ Eren starts.

“Talking like everything has already failed means it has.”

“I didn’t mean-“

“You did. You just didn’t have to say it. I don’t think everything will go well either. I know there will be casualties, and only few will survive. But that doesn’t mean you can give up. Be strong. Trust your instincts.”

“How can I trust my instincts when they tell me to run in the opposite direction?” Eren questioned, looking at the sunset with Levi. The orb nearly below the top of the eighty meter tall wall.

Levi looked up at Eren, quiet for a moment before asking, “Remember what I told you that day in the forest?”

“When we were riding away from Annie?” Eren responded, turning to the Captain before looking out of the corner of his eye at the final rays of the evening sunlight, the countdown near its end.

Levi nodded.

“What about it?”

“What did I tell you?”

“To trust my instincts. That no matter what I decide, no one will be able to tell me if what I chose is right or wrong. Not until I arrive at some sort of outcome. The only thing we’re allowed to do is believe that we won’t regret our choice. Why?”

“Because that applies now. You either choose to be strong for all of those who can’t be. For all the lives we’ve already lost. Or to turn your back. Erwin believes in you. No matter what your choice, he’ll listen. But you need to get it in your head what you want to do. You fight or you flee. What is it going to be?”

“Levi, I can’t just choose one or the oth-“

“You can. Choose. Tell me who you are. What do you fight for?”

“I fight for us. Always.”

“That’s what I thought. And what do we fight for?”

Eren steeled himself, realization striking him with what Levi was saying. He felt his chest swell as he thought about all of the people behind them on the other side of the wall. All of the children that grew up faster than what children should. All of the wives and husbands now widowed from the giants that haunt all of their dreams. He knew the answer. He always had. It was the promises he’d made with every drop of blood he gave in his trainings. It was every tear he wept for every friend they burned. Those were the answers.

“We fight for the life we want. The people we want. And the places we want to go. We fight for their freedom and our own.” Eren listed, his hands clenched and voice strong with welled up emotions.

“Exaclty. Now remember that and stay focused. I believe in you, Eren. We all believe in you.”

“Levi.” The older man looked up at the brunet, his mouth opening in slight awe at the sight the greeted him. Eren stood watching as the sun fell behind the wall, eyes bright and fierce, his chocolate brown hair brushing back and forth against his cheek in the winds that vaulted over the wall they stood on.“I’ll kill them all.”

The line was quiet but the cold edge it harbored spoke in volumes of the darkness that Levi forgot Eren possessed within him. Eren turned to face Levi one more time.

“I promise.”

The sharp blast of a whistle echoed across the wall before another sounded closer to the couple, the message carried down the line for the officers to ready their troops. Eren winced at the sound, knowing what it implied. It was time. He lifted a hand to Levi’s cheek, taking a moment to enjoy the contact. Sea-foam green eyes glanced back and forth between both of Levi’s steel grey ones. He took this time to memorize the color as well as Levi’s features incase it was the last time he had the chance before he turned and walked away, body rigid with new found determination. He wasn’t going to let anyone down. Least of all Levi.

Levi watched him go for a minute, his hand raised to the place where Eren’s hand had just been before he straightened and turned to find his squad.

**Author's Note:**

> Until next time!
> 
> (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
> 
> (Edits will be made in the future when I find the time!)


End file.
